Historic & Cultural Heritage Conservation & Preservation

Working with the local offices of the National Park Service, nonprofit organizations, and community organizations, Olohana seeks to re-establish native flora and fauna to their endemic locations in Hawaii and other areas and, through ritual and celebration, to re-connect Native populations to their ancestral heritage.

Heiau, an ancient Hawaiian temple, was reconstructed at Honokohau National Historic Landmark on the Big island of Hawaiʻi. It resides within Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Kona District, which is part of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. Photo by W Nowicki.

PARTNERSHIP FOR ADAPTIVE AMERICA (PAA)

The PAA promotes the education of and skills-training in habitat restoration and agroforesty within two specific demographics: 1) veterans; and 2) youth between the ages of 11 and 21. With the Partnership for National Trails System, ATA Ala Kahakai National Trail, NOAA PSC/CSC Pacific Services Center/Coastal Services Center, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, returning veterans will be assisted with reintegration to society through habitat restoration and community-building and engagement activities. Other network partners will organize around youth to provide exploratory ritual and rites of passage ceremonies whereby they will be supported in their ancestral and personal connection to the land, water, flora, and fauna.

The Global Breadfruit Heritage Council (GBHC) officially launched at the Pacific Risk Management OhanaPRiMO 2016 conference in March in Honolulu. The purpose of GBHC is to honor and protect the genetic, cultural/spiritual, environmental, and product integrity of breadfruit.

BREADFRUIT HERITAGE FOOD FORESTS
LIVING DEMONSTRATION SITES, HAWAII

In 2015 Olohana initialized two food forest installations: a demonstration site in Waimea for Kanu O Ka ‘Aina Learning Ohana Charter School and a breadfruit heritage food forest for International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2016 conference Hawaii in Kaiholena in partnership with Hawaii National Park Service Ala Kahakai Trail Association.

These food forest installations and demonstration sites provide real-life, hands-on training and learning opportunities in agroforestry and breadfruit cultivation for the community and visitors while also restoring and developing land to a healthy, sustainable state of equilibrium between community, flora and fauna, and the larger ecosystem, and promoting the Native community’s connection to their ancestral heritage.

The Maunalei Valley Shoreline Restoration Project involved making erosion control barriers in an intermittent stream bed. The barriers slow storm water and collect sediment before the water reaches the ocean. Photo by Craig Elevitch.

MAUNALEI VALLEY SHORELINE RESTORATION PROJECT

Olohana partnered with Hawaii Fish Trust, a field program of Convervation International, and Uncle Sol Kahoohalahala in the Maunalei Valley Shoreline Restoration Project on Lanai.